Consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it’s unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside.
Or consider a sidewalk. Some litter accumulates. Soon, more litter accumulates. Eventually, people even start leaving bags of trash from take-out restaurants there or breaking into cars.
A successful strategy for preventing vandalism, say the book’s authors, is to fix the problems when they are small. Repair the broken windows within a short time, say, a day or a week, and the tendency is that vandals are much less likely to break more windows or do further damage. Clean up the sidewalk every day, and the tendency is for litter not to accumulate (or for the rate of littering to be much less). Problems do not escalate and thus respectable residents do not flee a neighborhood.
The theory thus makes two major claims: that further petty crime and low-level anti-social behavior will be deterred, and that major crime will, as a result, be prevented. Criticism of the theory has tended to focus only on the latter claim.
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If you ever hear the whole ‘broken windows theory‘ being thrown around in discussions about law enforcement and reducing crime, this is the origins of the idea. George Kelling wrote this article below, and also has a book that further expands upon the ideas called Fixing Broken Windows: Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in Our Communities. So I wanted to put this out there for the readership, because I believe that parts of this theory, if not the general idea of it, could definitely be applied to our industry.
A really basic way to apply this theory to our industry, is the management of your person and your position/post at whatever contract you are at. Will others have less respect for your post and your job, if they see that your post or even you is in complete disarray(broken window)? First impressions make lasting impressions, and if your post or you looks sloppy or looks unorganized, then will others feel more inclined to disrespect your post or ‘break another window’? It is an interesting idea that I often come back to when I think about the defense or crime.
Take it a step further. If a town or city in a war zone, was organized and sharp looking, complete with defenses that actually look impressive, will an enemy or even bandits be less inclined to attack it? If a ‘jundi’ in Iraq is manning a position at a site, and the sand bags are all leaking out and the gun is covered in rust and dirt, and trash is all over the post, would insurgents be more inclined to pick that post to focus a coordinated assault with? (you could also use this to your advantage for a ‘counter’ strategy–hidden surprises anyone?)
How about for minimizing crime in war zones? Obviously law enforcement is weakened in war zones, because these officers are busy with a lot of stuff. (like not getting killed). If there is not an effort to clean up the bullet holes, or fix the windows, or repair the homes that are damaged by war, will criminals naturally feel like they can get away with anything? That no one in the community cares about their community, and that they could easily be manipulated by criminals imposing their will? Interesting stuff, and I would like to hear what you think about Broken Window Theory, as it applies to CONUS or OCONUS? -Matt
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March 1982
The police and neighborhood safety
By George L. Kelling
In the mid-l970s The State of New Jersey announced a “Safe and Clean Neighborhoods Program,” designed to improve the quality of community life in twenty-eight cities. As part of that program, the state provided money to help cities take police officers out of their patrol cars and assign them to walking beats. The governor and other state officials were enthusiastic about using foot patrol as a way of cutting crime, but many police chiefs were skeptical. Foot patrol, in their eyes, had been pretty much discredited. It reduced the mobility of the police, who thus had difficulty responding to citizen calls for service, and it weakened headquarters control over patrol officers.
Many police officers also disliked foot patrol, but for different reasons: it was hard work, it kept them outside on cold, rainy nights, and it reduced their chances for making a “good pinch.” In some departments, assigning officers to foot patrol had been used as a form of punishment. And academic experts on policing doubted that foot patrol would have any impact on crime rates; it was, in the opinion of most, little more than a sop to public opinion. But since the state was paying for it, the local authorities were willing to go along.
